Peer-reviewed article
Understanding educational care farms as outdoor learning interventions for children who have dropped out of school in the Netherlands
E.J. Veen, Roald Pijpker, Jan Hassink ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines how educational care farms in the Netherlands help children who have dropped out of school. Researchers observed and interviewed children, parents, teachers, and farmers at nine farms to understand how outdoor learning on farms supports positive development. The study found that farm-based programs allow children to experience rest, freedom, personalized education, and acceptance, which helps them develop socially and environmentally. The research suggests these interventions work by combining outdoor learning with the unique farm environment.
Key points
- Care farms offering education programs for school dropouts are emerging in the Netherlands
- Outdoor learning on farms combined with farm context enables children to experience rest, freedom, and tailored education
- Children report feeling accepted in the farm environment
- The intervention particularly supports development of socio-environmental functioning
- Study used observations and interviews across nine educational care farms
Limitations
The study does not provide quantitative data on school return rates or long-term outcomes. The research does not include a comparison group, so it cannot demonstrate whether farm-based interventions are more effective than other dropout interventions.
Abstract
When children drop out of school, either temporarily or permanently, this poses a significant problem for both children and society. In the Netherlands, care farms offering care-education programs for school dropouts are emerging. While there is evidence for their effectiveness, models explaining how such outdoor interventions may facilitate positive developments of children and their return to school are lacking. Using the generic Context-Intervention-Mechanisms-Outcome Model as an overarching deductive frame, this study inductively examines how care-educational programs facilitate the positive development of children who have dropped out of school. Focusing on nine educational care farms, we conducted observations and interviews with children, parents, teachers, and farmers. We conclude that the outdoor learning intervention in combination with the underlying farm context enables children to enjoy rest, freedom, tailored education, and a feeling of acceptance. These mechanisms support children to develop themselves, particularly regarding their socio-environmental functioning.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Educational care farm programs combining outdoor learning with farm-based education
- Population
- Children who have dropped out of school in the Netherlands
Key finding
Outdoor learning on farms enables children to experience rest, freedom, and tailored education